Yarn holding device for knitting machines



14, 1940- R. HUG 2,201,092

YARN HOLDING DEVICE FOR KNITTING MACHINES Filed Jan. 27, 1938 4Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. jfudogph Ha May 14, 1940. HUG

YARN HOLDING DEVICE FUR KNITTING MACHINBS 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan.'27, 1938 INVENTOR: in hflu mg A TTO 1-3."!EY.

R. HUG

May 14, 1940.

. YQRN HOLDING DEVICE FOR KNITTING MACHINES 7 Filed Jar 1. 2?. 1938INVENTOR. 21in? ATTOR Y Y.

MmhMMn Kudzu]? May 14, 1940. R HUG 2,201,092

YARN HOLDING DEVICE FOR KNITTING MACHINES Filed Jan. 27, 1938 4Sheets-Sheet 4 F1. :5- E- a M IN V EN TOR.

TTORNEK Patented May 14, 1940 UNITED STATES YARN HOLDING DEVICE FORKNITTmG MACHINES Rudolph Hug, West Reading, Pa., assignmto TextileMachine Works, Wyomissing, Pa a corporation of Pennsylvania IApplication January 27, 1938, Serial No. 187,170

8 Claims.

My invention relates to an arrangement including yarn holding means andmore particularly to a device of this character for facilitating thefeeding of yarn to the loop forming elements of a full fashionedknitting machine.

In preparing the knitting machine for producing a stocking fabric, ithas been customary to draw a short section of yarn from the yarn guidefinger, prior to its introduction into the fabric, and to suspend thefree end of the yarn from the yarn guide finger or to pass it through aneyelet provided for this purpose, without securing the yarn thereto.However, with these methods for preparing the machine for operation,feeding of the yarn to the full width of fabric or area being producedhas been uncertain, and in many instances, the free end of the yarn hasbeen partially carried across the knitting field before being caught bythe sinkers around the needles of the machine.

Another diificulty has occurred in the use of high twist yarn, in thatthe free end, if not secured, has a tendency to curl or twist to such anextent that in some instances the yarn has twisted above the throats ofthe sinkers. Consequently, no yarn has been fed to-the first fewsinkers.

Other objections to leaving the free end of the yarn suspended from theyarn guide finger have been, where no tension was applied to the yarn,the first loops formed in the course were of a much looser construction,usually greatly enlarged relative to the remaining loops of the course,or the free end of the yarn became untwisted. At other times the freeend of the yarn suspended from the yarn guide finger has becomeentangled with the free ends of yarns hanging from idle yarn guidefingers, carrying these idle yarns into the fabric to be interknittedtherewith.

This is particularly apt to happen in knitting with several body yarnsaccording to the ringless or alternating carrier principle. All theabove actions of the yarn cause noticeable line effects and otherblemishes in the fabric, which are especially objectionable in view ofthe trend toward sheerness and beauty in stocking fabrics.

However, securing the free end of the yarn to the machine also hascertain disadvantages in that the secured end of yarn, if not releasedor severed at the selvage edge of the fabric shortly after the start ofthe knitting operation will cause a tightening and bunching of the loopsat the selvage resulting in a defective fabric.

It is therefore an object of my invention to provide a device of simpleconstruction, which will be cheap to manufacture and eflicient inoperation and which will overcome the above objections.

It has been found further that unless the yarn leading from the point atwhich it is held to the lower end of the yarn guide finger is entirelybelow the lower end of the finger, the yarn will not enter the throatsof all the sinkers and the first course will be one or more loops short.This is especially serious in footers, as the resulting defect falls atthe instep of the stocking.

Another object of my invention is to provide an arrangement by means ofwhich the yarn will be held below the tops of the sinkers so that theyarn in being moved across the knitting field for a first course willreadily enter the throat of the first sinker and will be fed to thethroats of all of the remaining sinkers across the full width of thefabric being knitted.

In addition to difiiculty which has developed in the portion of the yarnextending freely from the yarn guide finger, high twist yarns havecaused difliculty by forming a snarl between the yarn guide and thesnapper which has been carried into the fabric causing a double strandin certain loops thereof.

Another object of the invention is to provide means whereby twisting andsnarling of the yarn between the yarn guides and the snappers may beprevented, but which will hold the yarn lightly enough to permit it topull loose without causing damage or other difficulty in the knitting.

With these and other objects in view which will become apparent from thefollowing detailed description of the illustrative embodiment of thedrawings, my invention resides in the novel elements, features ofconstruction and arrangement of parts in cooperative relationship ashereinafter more particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a perspective view of a thread holding device of myinvention;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the device of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a side elevational view of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is an end elevation as viewed from the left of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is an end elevation as viewed from the right of Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of certain of the loop forming elements ofa full fashioned knitting machine and showing the thread holding devicein operative position relative thereto;

Fig. 7 is a top plan view of the mechanism of Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is a partial cross sectional view through a-full fashionedknitting machine. having the thread holding device applied thereto;

Fig. 9 is a cross sectional view taken substantially along the line 9-9of Fig. '7 and enlarged relative thereto; and I Fig. 10 is a viewsimilar to Fig. 9, butshowing a modified arrangement.

In the drawings and description, only those parts necessary to acomplete understanding of the invention have been set forth; furtherinformation as to the construction and operation of other elements notherein specifically pointed out, but which are usual and well known,being available in the pamphlet entitled Full Fashioned KnittingMachines, copyright 1920, and in the "Reading Full Fashioned KnittingMachine Catalogues, copyright 1929 and 1935, published by the TextileMachine Works, Reading, Penna, and a pamphlet entitled Knitting MachineLectures, published in 1935 by the Wyomissing Polytechnic Institute,Wyomissing, Pennsylvania. I

The arrangement within my invention comprises a knitting machine and adevice permitting yarn to be readily inserted therein andv adapted tohold the yarn with a certain rather light tension, and positioned on themachine substantially transversely thereto, but somewhat outside aknitting field having a bed of vertical needles, so that a yarnstretched between the device and the lower end of the yarn guide fingerruns below the upper corner and above the nose or lower tip of the endsinker of the group associated with said bed at the point the yarnintersects the plane of the needle, so that the end sinker is sure tocatch the yarn at the formation of the first course. The yarn holdingmeans or device within the invention applies friction to the yarn tohold it, but preferably without any spring action and without anyrotative movement between the opposed yarn contacting surfaces,experience showing that both spring action and rotation of the surfacesoften cause uneven tension in the thread or yarn in use. It is importantfurther that the yarn holder have a flared portion to facilitateintroduction of the yarn between the holding surfaces.

Referring to the drawings and particularly to Fig. 8, there is shown inthis figure the upper portion of a full fashioned knitting machine ofknown type comprising a center frame l0 which supports in transverserelation thereto a center bed I! and a front bed l2. A sinker head [5,secured to the center bed I I, has horizontal sinkers l6 and dividers I!which cooperate with a bank of vertical needles 2|, carried by a needlebar or bed 22, the sinkers, dividers and needles cooperating with otherwell known implements to form a knitting field. A yarn 23 is fed to thesinker head I5 and the needles 2| from a supply bobbin 26 in a yarn box21, through an eyelet 3|, over rods 32 and 33 into a moistening trough36 suspended from a bracket 31 fixed to the center frame ill in wellknown manner.

From the moistening trough 36 the yarn 23 passes through a ring tensiondevice 38 of usual type, carried by the bracket 31 by well known meansincluding a stud 4|. After passing through the ring tension device 38,the yarn passes through a usual snapper 42, which is fixed to andoperated by a rod 43 to alternately open to release the yarn 23 duringthe feeding thereof to the needles 2|, and to close to maintain the yarntaut between the snapper and the needles.

The yarn, after passing through the snapper 52 passes through one of theyarn guides 46, each of which has a finger 49 at its lower end and isfixed to one of a usual series of carrier rods 41.

The carrier rods 41 are slidably mounted in a bracket 48, secured to thecenter bed I l and are reciprocated in the customary manner by frictionboxes (not shown) to feed the yarn 23 to the needles 2 to form loops ina knitted fabric.

"Prior to feeding yarn 23 to the needles 2| for forming a first courseof loops, 9; short length of the yarn is drawn through the yarn guidefinger 49 andplaced around the first effective needle. In accordancewith the present invention, the short length drawn through the fingerprior to the forming of the first course is placed in a yarn holding orclamping device 5|, which holds the free end of the yarn sufficientlytight to ensure that the loops of the first course shall be of uniformlength, but which permits the yarn to draw through it under the draw-offtension without damage to the fabric and without drawing the selvageloops of the initial courses too tight.

.The yarn holding device 5|, Figs. 1 to 9, inclusive, comprises a lowerplate 52 having one end secured by a screw 53 to a bracket 56 which isfixed to the front bed l2 by means of a screw 51. The brackets 56 carrya shaft 58 to which are secured brackets 68 arranged to align a transferbar (not shown) with the needles 2|, said transfer bar being of usualconstruction and used in well known manner in transferring the leg blankof a stocking fabric from a legger ma chine to a footer machine.Cooperating with the lower plate 52, to hold the yarn 23, is an upperplate 58 having a portion 6| slightly raised at the center to provide aspace between it and plate 52 tapering toward the ends, plate 58 formingonly line contacts along transverse lines at 62 and 63 with the lowerplate. A plate 58 of polished mild steelhaving a weight of about threefourths ounces has been used successfully in a large number ofinstallations, although lighter plates have also been used successfully.By providing line contacts between the upper plate and the lower one,varying tension may be obtained in the yarn by moving the yarn towardeither of the lines of contact or several yarns may be placed betweenthe plates without affecting the holding action on the yarns. The upperplate 58 is also provided with an upturned end forming a flaring mouth64 with plate 52, so that the yarn 23 may readily be passed between andpositioned between the plates 52 and 58. Further, the flaring spacebetween end 65 and plate 52 opens toward the front of the machine sothat it is'readily accessible to the operative standing in front of bedl2.

The upper plate 58 is secured to the lower plate 52 by means of headedpins 66 which are fixed in the lower plate but are loose in the upperplate to permit a slight hinge-like movement between the plates. The useof two pins 66 prevents any rotation between the plates 52 and 58 and soalso prevents any rolling action on the yarn, an action causing it totwist and to thereby change the tension required to pull it out frombetween the plates. Further, the rearward contraction of the spacebetween the plates with the looseness of plate 58 on pins 66 causes therearward pull on yarn 23 from the sinkers and yarn guide to wedge theyarn tighter if needed between the plates. With the hinge-like movementbetween the plates, and the upturned end of the plate 58, the yarn mayreadily be positioned between the plates by simply passing a strandrearwardly between the plates until it becomes wedged at the rear of thewidest spacing therebetween, as shown in Fig. 9.

The plate 58, although normally clamping the yarn against the lowerplate 52 during feeding thereof to the needles, is light enough topermit the yarn to be withdrawn from between the plates, when the dragon the yarn exceeds the clamping action of the plates, withoutdistorting the fabric.

In the illustrations of Figs. 6 and 8, the free ends of the yarns usedat the start of the foot knitting are shown being held by the respectivedevices 5|, thereby effecting positive feeding of the yarns to theneedles during the production of the first course of loops. The legblank has been purposely omitted fromthis illustration in order to moreclearly show the position occupied by the yarns as effected by theholding devices. Thus, by means of this arrangement, the free ends ofthe individual yarns are separately anchored thereby preventing theproduction of defective fabric, as for instance would be occasioned ifthe yarn would not be in position to be caught by certain of the sinkersduring the loop forming operation thereof, which action might possiblybe occasioned if the ends of the yarns were free.

The holder 5| according to the invention is shown in Figs. 8 and 9 asmounted to be horizontal, but it often occurs that better results can beobtained by inclining the holder downwardly from front to rear as shownin Fig. 10. For this purpose a holder 5la including brackets 56a, bolts51a and plate 52a are all modified slightly so that plate 52a canincline downwardly from brackets 56a passing close above the heads ofbolts 51a.

As will be immediately apparent to those familiar with such machines,the knitting machine illustrated in part herein is essentially astandard Reading" footer machine. In legger machines, which have noshaft 59, plate 52 or 52a is modified so that it may be attached readilydirectly to the front bed I2. The modification necessary for thispurpose being obvious to those skilled in the mechanical arts, it is notillustrated herein.

The plates 52 and 58 are arranged on the front bed l2 so that the lineof the yarn 23, extending from the clamping device 5| to the yarn guideit, will be below the tops of the sinkers l6, but above their lower tipsor noses at the line of the needles ensuring that the first sinker willcatch the yarn and providing yarn for all of the needles for producing afirst course the full required width of fabric. To ensure this action ofthe parts, holder 5| is placed as shown in Fig. 7 somewhat outside thevertical transverse planes extending through the ends of the knittingfield, whereas the yarn is held below the lower end of the finger 49 ofits respective yarn guide 46, at the point of leaving the holder.

In using my invention, prior to starting the stocking fabric, or priorto starting a portion of the fabric where a different yarn is required,a

short length of the yarn 23 is drawn from the yarn guide 46 and the freeend of the yarn placed between the plates 52 and 5B of the clampingdevice 5|, thus eliminating untwisting and kinking of the yarn as wellas the accidental entering of an idle yarn into the fabric, causingdefective fabric. Furthermore, the clamp device 5! will function toprevent the first loops of the initial course from becoming loose andwill thereby be gradual withdrawal of the free end of the yarn, if forany reason the operator fails to release or sever the yarn, thuspreventing a tightening of the selvage loops of the fabric.

Of course, the improvements specifically shown and described by which Iobtain the above results, can be changed and modified in various wayswithout departing from the invention herein disclosed and hereinafterclaimed.

What I claim is:

1. In a straight knitting machine, loop forming means including a bankof needles, a yarn guide finger for feeding yarn to the needles, sinkersfor pressing the yarn around the needles, means for yieldably holdingthe yarn below the tops of the sinkers including a lower stationarymember and an upper member hinged to the lower member, one of saidmembers being bowed to provide substantially line contact between saidmembers.

2, A thread holder for knitting machines having an upper plate restingon a lower one along spaced lines, retaining means near one of saidlines having loose engagement with said upper plate for holding it onthe lower one but arranged to prevent substantial relative horizontalturning movement between the plates, said plates spaced apart betweensaid lines but arranged so that the space between them tapers from thepoint of widest spacing toward said retaining means.

3. A thread holder for knitting machines having an upper plate restingon a lower one along spaced lines, retaining means near one of saidlines having loose engagement with said upper plate for holding it onthe lower one but arranged to prevent substantial relative horizontalturning movement between the plates, and said plates spaced apartbetween said lines but arranged so that the space between them tapersfrom the point of widest spacing toward said retaining means, the holderhaving a flaring mouth to receive thread to be passed beneath the upperplate.

4. The combination with a full fashioned knitting machine having a bankof needles and sinkers for kinking yarn about said needles, of a threadholder arranged to maintain the free end of a yarn being laid along theneedles at a level below the tops of said sinkers, and including a pairof plates extending generally between planes at right angles to theplane of the needle bank, one of said plates resting on the other,retaining means near the ends of said plates closer to the needlespermitting the upper plate to lift from the lower with angular movementbetween the two in the vertical plane but substantially preventingrelative angular movement of the plates in the horizontal plane, theholder having a flaring mouth at the end farther from the needles toreceive thread.

5. The combinationas set forth in claim 4 and Y in which the plates arearranged to provide space between the plates for a portion of theirlength but so that the space between them tapers from the point ofwidest spacing toward the retaining means.

6. In a straight knitting machine, loop forming facilitate theintroduction of thread therebetween at a point relatively removed fromthe hinge between the members and to rest one on the other at pointsadjacent said hinge and said point and to provide space between themtapering toward the hinge whereby thread introduced between the membersis wedged between the members by the action of the yarn guide finger,said hinge, however, permitting the movable member to lift enough sothat thread which has wedged between the members may draw between themin response to a movement of said needle bank.

'7. In' a knitting machine, means for yieldably holding the free end ofthe yarn to be knitted including a lower stationary member and an uppermember hinged to the stationary member at a point relatively near saidbank, said memhas being formed to facilitate the introduction of threadtherebetween at a point relatively removed from the hinge between themembers and, to rest one on the other at points adjacent said hinge andsaid point and to provide space between them tapering toward the hingewhereby thread introduced between the members is wedged between themembers by the action of the yarn guide finger, said hinge, however,permitting the movable member to lift enough so that thread which haswedged between the members may draw between them.

8. In a straight knitting machine, loop forming means including a bankof needles, means for yieldably holding the free end of the yarn to beknitted including a lower stationary member and an upper member hingedto the stationary member at a point relatively near said bank, saidmembers being formed to facilitate the introduc tion of threadtherebetween at a point relatively removed from the hinge between themembers and to rest one on the other at points adjacent said hinge andsaid point for introduction of the thread but to provide space betweenthem tapering toward the hinge whereby thread introduced between themembers is wedged between the members by the action of the yarn guidefinger, said hinge, however, permitting the movable member to liftenough so that thread which has wedged between the members may drawbetween them in response to a movement of said needle bank.

RUDOLPH HUG. 25

